Rise Up
by I'mCatBug
Summary: After going back in time to save his parents, Finn returns to a revolutionary Earth fighting between the underground rebel forces and the eternal empire. It has been four years now since the war began and there is no going back to the way things were before, not that he remembers any of it anyway.


All minors under the age of twenty-one are required by law to remain indoors by nineteen hundred hours, no exceptions.

Anyone with enough balls to venture from the safety of their homes into the fog and streetlights has on average a 15% chance of making it back, what with all the _pests_ running around. Without the right line of defense a person could get slaughtered by the Infected, butchered by Biters or worse, get arrested by the world famous tight ass Mr. Commanding Officer Summers.

That's O.S. for short, but no one wants to ever get caught calling him that while in his oh so glorious presence. Always say his full title. For as long as Finn could remember he has always been in charge of the city's task force and the many small police departments in the area. Well known for his deeply creased forehead and over all dreary attitude. O.S. decided that in order to avoid another misdiagnosis the gates of the quarantine zone around the city be sealed off from twenty-two hundred hours to O' four hundred hours. If you don't know how to convert astronomical time into standard time: when the sun goes down nothing's coming in or out of those gates. But that's when _they_ try to squeeze in like rats under a door.

On a regular basis no one is allowed inside the city without the proper identification and a passing medical exam grade of no less or greater than ten. Ten is human, anything higher is mutant and anything lower is infected.

If a person was born after the Great War, for example his generation, like any other child they went to school.

The nuclear bombs that hit California by accident-Manhattan falling into the Atlantic ocean (He's never been there himself but they say a person can see the tips of two buildings off the shore of Minnesota, think one of them was them was called the Freedom something).

At ten years old they were just starting to understand what happened about a millennium ago that gave way to this world.

The death toll after the Great War was in the millions and the future of humanity was hanging by a very weak thread. Just the thought of bringing a child into this screwed up world was repulsive enough to make everyone stop fucking for five seconds. Although some good did come of the nuclear holocaust, they found the cures for AIDS and HIV: turns out it was a bullet and a well working oven. All the people who had it eventually were killed by the government and it just ended there.

Regardless of the devastation (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, they all went down to shit pretty hard) there are still remnants of the old world. Abandoned buildings, sturdy houses, school buildings, shopping malls and old cathedrals survived. Things got better though, kind of, the 18 Cities just seemed to materialize out of nowhere with their own different quirks. The most popular ones by far are Five and Ten, both nicknamed the Candy Kingdom. Isn't that sweet?

Recently the rebel forces have been stepping up to the plate where the government failed, providing food rations and a clean water supply for the fifth and sixth generation survivors. In deep red spray paint vandals wrote, "The government shall be upon _His_ shoulders," over the local administration building. A U.R.F tag for sure.

Tucked away at the far side of the city, near the border between Five and Six, was a strip of buildings that didn't show up on any of the maps no matter which one you were looking at. The Eternal Empress had purposefully omitted it for 'security' reasons.

Most of the citizens didn't know about that exact neighborhood and all deliveries were taken care of locally so there was no chance of some minimum-wage delivery boy stumbling on the seedy projects. Which was a good thing.

A Chinese take-out menu was half open near a bunch of greasy white boxes and a few empty cans of cherry cola sitting on his nightstand. Muffled car horns and blaring sirens whaled from outside. _You have violated a protected area. The police were called. Leave immediately._ Finn couldn't remember the last time he'd left. The window showed a world outside that he had no real interest in anymore. Just living the potato life. To him the sky was always dull, colorless, and raining. But in this case it actually was raining. The windowsill and carpet were soaked and the room was getting a weird cold and muggy feeling. Finn glanced at the window. He started dawdling over to the window on the opposite side of the room, shut it, and then returned to his bed. With a shaky hand Finn rubbed his eyes; tired from exhaustion. The digital clock on the cable box read a quarter to twelve, almost midnight, Friday.

Every now and then the television screen would go black and white like old newspaper print, haze up, or cut out completely. It was dark in the apartment, the television being the only light in the room. Finn changed the channel to some Korean game show then threw the remote aside, rolled up his sleeve to check his watch, and sighed contentedly.

Finn could hear his dog lapping water from toilet in the bathroom, even though he had set a bowl of fresh water for him in the kitchen. The dog trotted into the room licking up the water from his jaws. Jake (which was the dog's name) leaped up onto the twin sized bed next to Finn and turned onto his back with his paws up. Then, after a large yawn, the dusty yellow dog licked his muzzle with one sweep of his tongue.

The hours were just getting later and later. Jake shifted over from his relaxed position and jumped off the bed. He watched the open doorway with one of his fore-legs folded up and ears cocked. A growl vibrated deep in his chest.

Finn sat up.

"What's wrong buddy?" He asked, patting Jake's side.

Jake bounded forward, running back and for between the door and the hallway.

After he was through with that, Jake woofed quietly, his short snout nosing the end table with the house phone. A little red light started blinking on the base. "Dude, seriously?" Finn rolled his eyes and fell back into the warm comforter on his bed. "You know what that is. Dumb dog, come here Jake."

Jake took a jovial rush at the boy, he hopped up on his hind legs and planted his paws on the edge of the bed. Jake barked again.

"Up Jake, up." Finn patted an old throw pillow at the edge of his bed. "Come on, it's your favorite."

Underneath the hum of the old television and nervous dog sounds, Finn caught the sound of a raged voice. Most likely male, harsh and rigid.

The voice was coming from outside the apartment. It maintained a high volume and repeated the same words over and over. If the man continued yelling for longer than an hour he would complain, probably call someone to take care of it for him.

After a few minutes the voice outside stumbled to a halt, but then a few seconds had passed and it began again. This time it sounded closer to the entrance of his apartment.

"Open the door!" The man shouted. "Open up!" The man kicked the door, making it rattle in it's housing. His raging emotions focused entirely on the first of the three apartments. "Open the door now, boy."

No one every really wanted to, but a fight was more than expected. Finn jumped to his feet and began searching through his closet. He pulled out a wooden bat that was leaning on the back wall. It was about making a choice and he was choosing not to be victim.

Armed, Finn steeped outside of the bedroom. Turning on the lights as he walked down the narrow hallway. Jake ran to his side, howling and barking at the door. The man was still outside. The door remained closed but the doorknob was turning.

"Open the damn door, I said open it!" The man beat his closed fist and forearm against the apartment door. It vibrated with the blows. "Do it," The man spat. "Come here now!"

Jake growled loudly and the fur on his neck stood up. Finn inched slowly towards the door making a fist around the bat. The motors hummed way louder than they usual did. Both of the fluorescent lights above his head flickered away. Flickering more often.

"Go away!"

In response, the yelling grew louder. "Open it!"

"Shut up!"

"Open this door!"

The man took a couple steps back and launched a kick at the door. The lock gave way under the force of his shoe. The door flung inwards, striking a hole in the drywall. Finn staggered back wide-eyed into the end table, knocking over the phone with the bat. He gaped at the man's entrance.

Finn did know that voice. It wasn't the land lord coming to complaining about the rent being late or the dog he was not supposed to have. That guy was to chicken-shit to start a fight, not with some hundred pound bull.

"Sorry sir. I didn't know it was you." Finn inched away from his father, slowly, with his head down. "I didn't mean to keep you out."

"Out of my way," his father pushed him aside and went straight to the back room. "And clean this mess up."

Jake started barking and yapping at the open door. Finn quickly closed the door and tried to lock it, but it was broken. So he grabbed a chair from the living room and shoved it up against the door. That was the best he could do for the time being.

The rain came down heavier, he could hear it underneath the noise of his breathing, the television in his room, pattering ghosts, the wind. Finn sat himself down on the couch and buried his face into his palms. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Finn hit his head repeatedly, "who else would be at the door?"

Jake grumbled, resting his wrinkly chin on Finn's hand and rolled his eyes up to look at him. Panting and smiling a dog's smile. But dogs don't really smile. It's just because of the way their mouths are shaped that almost always look happy. Sometimes they're just really thirsty so their tongues fall out of their mouths and they look like they're doing this :P but they're not. Oh and for goodness sake! Let's just mention the fact that this dog, this one in particular was completely oblivious to all life's problems. Everything is an easy fix for him. Thirsty? Drink water, any water. Hungry? Eat garbage, forget the kibble. Bored? Bother the human. Tired? Sleep anywhere. Shit, the world is his bathroom!

From the corner of his eye he could see a little red light shining on the floor. The light blinked twice, then stopped, then blinked again like a little heart beat in the dark hallway.

The bat, the phone, trash, coins, and everything that was on the table was on the floor now. Just another mess to clean up. Not that he and his father kept a tidy house but because he did it he had to pick it up. Just as he reached for the phone it rang, the number was unknown but Finn picked it up anyway.

"Hello?" There was a moment of silence on the other end.

"Finn, Finn is that you?" a female voice asked.

"Yeah. Who am I talking too?"

The girl paused. Finn could hear her take a deep breath. "Finn, it's me, Fionna."

"Oh, hi then." Finn said. He glanced over at his father's room. He had the lights off, the door was cracked open too. Finn held the phone to his ear with his shoulder and finished picking up the table. "Give me a second… Alright, what's up, I'm all yours." Finn said climbing into his bed.

"I'm outside," Fionna's voice started shaking. "It's cold and I don't have a place to stay for the night. I need your help, and I'm sorry I was so mean to you before. I didn't mean any of it and you were right not to answer the phone early-"

"Breath baby. You said you're outside?" Finn sat up and started rummaging through his closet. "You do know it's storming out their right?"

"Yes, and yes."

"And you're in the rain?" Finn asked pulling out his windbreaker. "Outside of your house? Are you fucking crazy?"

"No. Just come down and let me in please." She hung up the phone.


End file.
